The European Union’s highest court found on Tuesday that imposing fines on asylum seekers who fail to pass integration exams violates EU law and forcing them to pay for the courses undermines the integration process.

The case revolves around a man from Eritrea who arrived in the Netherlands when he was 17. When he turned 18, he was told by the authorities he had to go through an “inburgering” course. When he failed to finish in time, he was ordered to repay a €10,000 loan he had taken out with the student finance group Duo to pay for the lessons. He was also fined €500.

“I am very happy with the decision,” the man’s lawyer, Eva Bezem told Dutch News.

When the teenager, whose name was not released for privacy reasons, entered the Netherlands, new arrivals were supposed to organise their integration into Dutch society themselves, but were able to borrow money to pay for it. If the course was completed in time, the loan did not have to be repaid.

Over the past few years, the Netherlands has fined over 3,400 new arrivals for not passing their integration exams within three years and can issue penalties of up to €1,250. 

“The fact of having failed such an examination cannot be systematically penalised by a fine. Such a penalty may be imposed only in exceptional cases, such as a proven and persistent lack of willingness to integrate,” the judges said.

Student finance body DUO had already stopped issuing fines while the case was pending.

According to Trouw, refugees currently have combined loans of €27 million and the total amount in outstanding fines is €2.3 million.  

A new “inburgering” system came into effect in 2022. Even though personal loans have been abolished, newcomers are still required by law to complete the process in three years and the government plans to make the language test more difficult, although this has not yet happened.